After weeks of speculation, NDP Leader Rachel Notley has made it official: it’s election time in Alberta.
The vote will take place on April 16, she said Tuesday morning in Calgary.
The start of the campaign comes one day after the NDP government delivered its throne speech in the legislature and amid a near-constant stream of controversies in recent days involving its main rival, the United Conservative Party led by Jason Kenney.
Notley focused her attention on those controversies as she called the election before a cheering crowd at the National Music Centre in Calgary, saying she hopes to earn the support of disaffected conservatives.
“A growing number of conservatives here in Calgary and across Alberta are coming to have serious doubts about Jason Kenney as premier,” she said.
Kenney has been fending off allegations that his campaign cooperated with rival Jeff Callaway in the party’s leadership race.
On Monday night, one of his star candidates dropped out of the running in the Calgary-Mountain View riding following the release of private messages from two years ago when she talked about a double standard for white supremacist terrorists.
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But Notley didn’t just focus on attacking the UCP.
Her speech also focused on the role that a re-elected NDP government would play in what she characterized as a more inclusive province — from rights to incomes.
She said the election would be fought on the basis of investments in health care, education and diversification of the economy.
“The question is this: do Albertans stick together or do we turn on each other?” she said.
“Jason Kenney wants two Albertas — one for the wealthy and one for the rest of us. He wants two Albertas divided over people’s rights.
“I want to continue to build one Alberta.”
UCP promises include corporate tax breaks, carbon tax repeal
The UCP has also been busy making policy announcements in anticipation of the election call, including corporate tax breaks, different minimum wage levels based on experience and age, and a promise to undo some of the NDP’s signature bills including the controversial carbon tax.
The election isn’t just about two parties going head to head, however.
The Alberta Party, led by former PC cabinet minister Stephen Mandel, is largely perceived as the third party in the race, followed by the Alberta Liberals.
On the right, ousted conservative MLA Derek Fildebrandt will go into the election as the head of the Freedom Conservative Party.
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Under provincial legislation, the vote had to be held before May 31 and have a 28-day campaign.
Throne speech touted NDP’s past accomplishments
A new session of the legislature began Monday with a throne speech that focused on the NDP government’s accomplishments in the last four years — from building schools, roads and hospitals to providing more supports for seniors, students and those in need.
It also criticized the former Progressive Conservative government, and said the New Democrats have been working to overcome the failures of the past.
The spring election will be the first for the United Conservative Party and Kenney, a federal cabinet minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper.
The United Conservatives were Kenney’s answer to unite the right, and were born out of a merger of the Alberta Tories and what was the Opposition Wildrose Party.
More to come.
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